The Federal Supplementary Education Opportunity Grant: FSEOG

Written by Michael Bennet

The Federal Supplementary Education Opportunity Grant, or FSEOG Grant as it commonly referred to, is a federal education grant that is provided on an annual basis to undergraduate students from across the country who exhibit a high financial need.

In these respects it is very similar to the Pell Grant, although FSEOG Grants are only given to the students with the absolute highest levels of need, and are much more difficult to get when compared with the Pell Grant.

Basic Aspects of the FSEOG Award

The FSEOG award is very similar to the federal Pell Grant program. Commonalities include the following items:

Students must also be eligible for federal student aid in order to qualify.

Available award amounts range from 100, to 4,000 dollars. Determination is based on need and other factors much in the same the Pell Grant award amount is calculated.

The federal government provides roughly 75 percent of the FSEOG award amount, the remaining 25 percent is paid for by the college institution.

FSEOG and Pell Grant Differences

The primary difference between the FSEOG award and the Pell Grant is that the FSEOG award is more difficult to become eligible for, with fewer schools offering the award (roughly 4,000 schools), with a much stricter financial need guideline. Regardless, it can still be used in conjunction with the Pell Grant, and should be welcomed by any student who is fortunate enough to qualify.

Students who wish to apply don’t really have to do anything beyond what they would do to apply for a Pell Grant, and the only application that needs to be completed is the FAFSA. It does however need to be submitted for each year that the student wishes to be considered for eligibility, as the FSEOG is similar to the Pell Grant in that it is awarded on an annual basis. The latest the FAFSA can be submitted is June 30, the earliest is January 1.